Sensitivity-enhancing All-in-type Optical Three-axis Tactile Sensor Mounted on Articulated Robotic Fingers

AbstractIn a previous study, we developed an all-in-type optical three-axis tactile sensor to address two issues: the first is to be able to use external devices such as a CCD camera and light source; the other is the insensible zone. We miniaturized its whole structure through adoption of a CMOS board camera equipped with LEDs. Since a USB is installed in the CMOS camera as an interface, an additional image processing board is not required. Furthermore, it is equipped with a rubber dome including a sensing element array to remove the insensible zone because rubber is filled in between the sensing elements. However, even if it accepted under around 1-N force, no output of brightness appeared. In this paper, we enhance the characteristic in the low level applied force through improvement of image processing. Furthermore, the present sensor showed higher output level of normal and tangential forces through a series of experiments comparing the present and ordinal three-axis tactile sensors

Point Absorber Method as Wave Energy Convertor Device for Power Generation: Effect of Buoy Arrangements

A point absorber is a floating structure with components that move relative to each other due to wave action. They utilize the up and down movement of the wave height at a single point for energy conversion. The relative up and down which is bobbing motion caused by passing waves used to drive electromechanical energy converters to generate power output. This experiment investigates behaviour of the point absorber device used the pneumatic sensor to take the frequency of the displacement of buoy while testing in the wave maker generator. Then, study the efficiency power output of point absorber WEC device and studies the behaviour of the point absorber in a regular wave. Fabricate the linear generator which as power absorption to estimate the effectiveness power output on different configuration by using the multimeter device. The point absorber at the front position of the configuration has good behaviour because of the high frequency produced. By estimated the behaviour of the device on configuration achieved. Configuration shape design of the point absorber used in this testing is square, diamond and parallelogram shape for an estimate the best power output. The configuration of the parallelogram has the best power output compared to another configuration. The best arrangement of the device for efficiency by measure the output voltage as power output is 68.14 mV and increase 8% in every minute

A Theoretical Model of Augmented Reality Acceptance in Urban Cultural Heritage Tourism

Latest mobile technologies have revolutionised the way people experience their environment. Recent research explored the opportunities of using augmented reality (AR) in order to enhance the user experience however, there is only limited research on users’ acceptance of AR in the tourism context. The technology acceptance model is the predominant theory for researching technology acceptance. Previous researchers used the approach of proposing external dimensions based on secondary literature; however missed the opportunity to integrate context specific dimensions. This paper therefore aims to propose an AR acceptance model in the context of urban heritage tourism. Five focus groups, with young British female tourists visiting Dublin and experiencing a mobile AR application, were conducted. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and revealed seven dimensions that should be incorporated into AR acceptance research including information quality, system quality, costs of use, recommendations, personal innovativeness and risk as well as facilitating conditions

Sensors fusion based online mapping and features extraction of mobile robot in the road following and roundabout

A road feature extraction based mapping system using a sensor fusion technique for mobile robot navigation in road environments is presented in this paper. The online mapping of mobile robot is performed continuously in the road environments to find the road properties that enable the robot to move from a certain start position to pre-determined goal while discovering and detecting the roundabout. The sensors fusion involving laser range finder, camera and odometry which are installed in a new platform, are used to find the path of the robot and localize it within its environments. The local maps are developed using camera and laser range finder to recognize the roads borders parameters such as road width, curbs and roundabout. Results show the capability of the robot with the proposed algorithms to effectively identify the road environments and build a local mapping for road following and roundabout

Kesejahteraan subjektif: kajian kes nelayan di Sedili, Kota Tinggi, Johor

Kertas bertujuan membincangkan tahap kesejahteraan hidup nelayan di Sedili, Kota Tinggi, Johor. Objektif khusus kertas ialah mengukur tahap kesejahteraan hidup nelayan dan membuat perbandingan tahap kesejahteraan hidup nelayan pantai dengan nelayan laut dalam. Selain itu, hubungan antara tahap kesejahteraan hidup nelayan pantai dan nelayan laut dalam dengan umur, bilangan tanggungan, tempoh masa menjadi nelayan, pendapatan bulanan dan pendapatan keluarga responden turut dianalisa. Tahap kesejahteraan hidup diukur secara subjektif berdasarkan persepsi nelayan terhadap 10 pernyataan berkaitan kehidupan seharian mereka menggunakan 5-skala likert. Sejumlah 200 orang nelayan dianalisis dalam perbincangan ini. Hasil kajian menunjukkan tahap kesejahteraan hidup nelayan adalah pada tahap yang tinggi, baik nelayan pantai ataupun nelayan laut dalam. Meskipun begitu, penglibatan pihak berkuasa dalam meningkatkan tingkat kehidupan masyarakat nelayan amat penting untuk mencapai tingkat pendapatan yang lebih tinggi agar kesejahteraan hidup sebenar dapat dinikmati

Physicochemical and morphological characterisation of the native and alkaline pre-Treated fibre pressed oil palm frond for fermentable sugars production

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is the most abundant renewable biomass that gives high potential source for the production of value added products. LCB is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. During pretreatment process, cellulosic biomass structure will be altered and delignification occur which make cellulose more accessible to the subsequent process of converting it into simple sugars. In this study, fibre pressed oil palm frond (FPOPF) was introduced as a raw material in order to maximise the utilisation of oil palm waste. This study was conducted to analyse and compare the physical, chemical and morphological characteristics of FPOPF before (native) and after alkaline pretreatment (pre-Treated). The FPOPF was subjected to an alkaline pretreatment at 4.42 % w/v of sodium hydroxide solution which operated at 100 °C for an hour (Sukri and Rahman, 2014). From the study, it was found that characterisation of native FPOPF produced 40.7 % glucan, 26.1 % xylan, 4.5 % extractives, 26.2 % lignin and 1.8 % ash. Pre-Treated FPOPF gave 61.4 % glucan, 20.4 % xylan, 0.3 % extractives, 13.3 % lignin and 1.3 % ash. The FPOPF samples were characterised using X-ray Diffraction spectrometry (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to evaluate the properties and structural changes of FPOPF between native and pre-Treated FPOPF. This information is useful in order to understand the properties and structural changes for native and pre-Treated FPOPF